Comprehensive debugging methodology guide for software engineers, containing 54 rules across 10 categories prioritized by impact. Based on research from Andreas Zeller's "Why Programs Fail" and academic debugging curricula.
Works with
AI-first code editor with Composer
Before installing skills in Cursor, ensure your development environment meets these requirements:
node --versiondebugExecute the skills CLI command in your project's root directory to begin installation:
Fetches debug from pproenca/dot-skills and configures it for Cursor.
The CLI shows a list of agents. Use arrow keys and space to select Cursor:
Confirm successful installation by checking the skill directory location:
Restart Cursor to activate debug. Access via /debug in your agent's command palette.
We perform automated surface-level scans (Gen AI Scanner, Socket, Snyk) during installation. These checks detect common vulnerabilities but do not guarantee complete security. Always review skill source code and verify the publisher's reputation before production use.
Skills execute code in your environment. Always review source, verify the publisher, and test in isolation before production.
Submit your Claude Code skill and start earning
Create detailed user stories, acceptance criteria, and feature specs
Example
Generate user stories for 'password reset feature' with acceptance criteria, edge cases, and test scenarios
Reduce spec writing time by 50%, ensure comprehensive coverage
Research competitors, compare features, identify gaps
Example
Analyze 5 competitor products, create feature comparison matrix, suggest differentiation opportunities
Complete competitive research in 2 hours instead of 2 days
Evaluate features using frameworks (RICE, ICE, Kano) and create prioritized backlogs
Example
Score 20 feature ideas using RICE framework, generate prioritized roadmap with rationale
0
total installs
0
this week
95
GitHub stars
0
upvotes
Run in your terminal
0
installs
0
this week
95
stars
Comprehensive debugging methodology guide for software engineers, containing 54 rules across 10 categories prioritized by impact. Based on research from Andreas Zeller's "Why Programs Fail" and academic debugging curricula.
Reference these guidelines when:
| Priority | Category | Impact | Prefix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Problem Definition | CRITICAL | prob- |
| 2 | Hypothesis-Driven Search | CRITICAL | hypo- |
| 3 | Observation Techniques | HIGH | obs- |
| 4 | Root Cause Analysis | HIGH | rca- |
| 5 | Tool Mastery | MEDIUM-HIGH | tool- |
| 6 | Bug Triage and Classification | MEDIUM | triage- |
| 7 | Common Bug Patterns | MEDIUM | pattern- |
| 8 | Fix Verification | MEDIUM | verify- |
| 9 | Anti-Patterns | MEDIUM | anti- |
| 10 | Prevention & Learning | LOW-MEDIUM | prev- |
prob-reproduce-before-debug - Reproduce the bug before investigatingprob-minimal-reproduction - Create minimal reproduction casesprob-document-symptoms - Document symptoms preciselyprob-separate-symptoms-causes - Separate symptoms from causesprob-state-expected-actual - State expected vs actual behaviorprob-recent-changes - Check recent changes firsthypo-scientific-method - Apply the scientific methodhypo-binary-search - Use binary search to localize bugshypo-one-change-at-time - Test one hypothesis at a timehypo-where-not-what - Find WHERE before asking WHAThypo-rule-out-obvious - Rule out obvious causes firsthypo-rubber-duck - Explain the problem aloudobs-strategic-logging - Use strategic loggingobs-log-inputs-outputs - Log function inputs and outputsobs-breakpoint-strategy - Use breakpoints strategicallyobs-stack-trace-reading - Read stack traces bottom to topobs-watch-expressions - Use watch expressions for stateobs-trace-data-flow - Trace data flow through systemrca-five-whys - Use the 5 Whys techniquerca-fault-propagation - Trace fault propagation chainsrca-last-known-good - Find the last known good staterca-question-assumptions - Question your assumptionsrca-examine-boundaries - Examine system boundariestool-conditional-breakpoints - Use conditional breakpointstool-logpoints - Use logpoints instead of modifying codetool-step-commands - Master step over/into/outtool-call-stack-navigation - Navigate the call stacktool-memory-inspection - Inspect memory and object statetool-exception-breakpoints - Use exception breakpointstriage-severity-vs-priority - Separate severity from prioritytriage-user-impact-assessment - Assess user impact before prioritizingtriage-reproducibility-matters - Factor reproducibility into triagetriage-quick-wins-first - Identify and ship quick wins firsttriage-duplicate-detection - Detect and link duplicate bug reportspattern-null-pointer - Recognize null pointer patternspattern-off-by-one - Spot off-by-one errorspattern-race-condition - Identify race condition symptomspattern-memory-leak - Detect memory leak patternspattern-type-coercion - Watch for type coercion bugspattern-async-await-errors - Catch async/await error handling mistakespattern-timezone-issues - Recognize timezone and date bugsverify-reproduce-fix - Verify with original reproductionverify-regression-check - Check for regressionsverify-understand-why-fix-works - Understand why fix worksverify-add-test - Add test to prevent recurrenceanti-shotgun-debugging - Avoid shotgun debugginganti-quick-patch - Avoid quick patches without understandinganti-tunnel-vision - Avoid tunnel vision on initial hypothesisanti-debug-fatigue - Recognize debugging fatigueanti-blame-tool - Don't blame the tool too quicklyprev-document-solution - Document bug solutionsprev-postmortem - Conduct blameless postmortemsprev-defensive-coding - Add defensive code at boundariesprev-improve-error-messages - Improve error messagesRead individual reference files for detailed explanations and code examples:
For the complete guide with all rules expanded: AGENTS.md
Make data-driven prioritization decisions faster
Draft PRDs, status updates, and stakeholder presentations
Example
Create executive summary of Q3 roadmap, monthly progress report, feature launch announcement
Save 3-5 hours/week on communication overhead
Prerequisites
Time Estimate
30-60 minutes to see productivity improvements
Steps
Common Pitfalls
✓ Do
✗ Don't
💡 Pro Tips
✓ Use when
Use for user story writing, competitive research, roadmap prioritization, stakeholder communication, and PRD drafting. Best for reducing repetitive documentation and research work.
✗ Avoid when
Avoid for strategic product vision (requires deep customer empathy), pricing decisions (needs market and financial expertise), or when face-to-face customer discovery is more valuable than speed.
pproenca/dot-skills
pproenca/dot-skills
mattpocock/skills
parcadei/continuous-claude-v3
cursor/plugins
ailabs-393/ai-labs-claude-skills
I recommend debug for anyone iterating fast on agent tooling; clear intent and a small, reviewable surface area.
debug is among the better-maintained entries we tried; worth keeping pinned for repeat workflows.
Solid pick for teams standardizing on skills: debug is focused, and the summary matches what you get after install.
debug reduced setup friction for our internal harness; good balance of opinion and flexibility.
debug has been reliable in day-to-day use. Documentation quality is above average for community skills.
Keeps context tight: debug is the kind of skill you can hand to a new teammate without a long onboarding doc.
debug is among the better-maintained entries we tried; worth keeping pinned for repeat workflows.
Keeps context tight: debug is the kind of skill you can hand to a new teammate without a long onboarding doc.
debug reduced setup friction for our internal harness; good balance of opinion and flexibility.
We added debug from the explainx registry; install was straightforward and the SKILL.md answered most questions upfront.
showing 1-10 of 55